Jump Scares
by Ardikus
Summary: Yang's little sister Ruby is bringing a new friend with them to a Haunted House on Halloween. She just wasn't expecting said friend to be her age. Or a guy.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Had a bit of inspiration strike to write out this one today.**

 **Happy Halloween!**

"Ruby! Slow down for a sec, will you!"

Yang's younger sister turned with a pleading grin on her face as she dragged her towards the large house, "C'mon Yang! I wanna go in the Haunted House! Everyone else is here already!"

Yang sighed tiredly and glanced over at the third member of their group warily to gauge his expression.

Jaune Arc was a bit of a mystery to her right now, and not in a good way, as far as Yang was concerned. She sort of knew him from school, since they were in the same Grade and he was best friends with Pyrrha Nikos, but they'd probably never said more than three words to each other before tonight.

Which was why she was very surprised that her sister, Ruby, had brought him along as the 'new friend' she'd been telling Yang about. Yang hadn't been expecting a boy two years older than Ruby.

He looked like he had a resigned expression, as if he was used to this sort of thing. Yang wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing yet.

Finally, they reached the door to the house, and Ruby led the way in. It was a big two storey farm house, with a big storage shed connected to the side. The owners' family set up a Haunted House in the shed every Halloween, and people came all the way from the City just to go through it.

As it turned out, one of Yang's friends, Blake, was related to the owners, and she invited their group to come and hang out at the house together and go through the Haunted House.

Speaking of, Yang spotted her friend as she stepped into the house, sitting on the couch talking with Sun and Neptune, she looked over and gave Yang a smile and a wave.

"Fire! Thank goodness!" Ruby practically sprinted across the room, landing in front of the wood stove that was burning in the living room.

"You guys are the last ones here, so we can probably go through now if you all want, the line is pretty small at the moment." Blake said, getting up from the couch, "Nice outfits, by the way" she added, giving Yang's Cowboy costume a once over. Ruby was, as always, Little Red Riding Hood.

"Thanks, you too kitty cat!" Yang teased, taking a look at Blake's Cat Woman outfit. Her friend just rolled her eyes.

Ruby got to her feet at the fire, "So can we go in then? I've been waiting all night for this and Yang was super slow!" Everyone chuckled while Yang turned Pink, "Just because you're a little ball of energy doesn't mean we all are, Ruby!"

"Well yea, but even Jaune was faster than you, and he's Jaune!"

"Hey!" Said boy protested, the first he'd spoken since he'd gotten into the car.

Blake waited for the laughter to die out before answering, "Yea, but we can only go in groups of two to four, the pathways get too crowded with more than that."

"Ooh, we could all just buddy up then, right?" Nora asked, breaking into the conversation and dragging Ren into it by the arm at the same time.

Immediately Yang's eyes shot between Ruby and Jaune, and she decided she needed to shoot down the buddy up idea right away. It didn't matter how many times Pyrrha told her Jaune was a nice guy, there was no way she was letting him go into a Haunted House alone with her little sister.

"Maybe we should go in threes or fours instead? That way we'll take up less time going through." She suggested, praying someone would back her up on that.

"Yea, that's a good idea, we wouldn't want to hold up the line too much." Yang nearly flinched, as of all people, Jaune was the one helping her keep an eye on himself.

Nevertheless, everyone else agreed, and split up. Ren, Nora and Pyrrha would go first, then Ruby, Jaune and Yang, and then Blake would go with Sun, Neptune and Weiss last, since Blake had helped setting up the scares and knew the layout already.

When it came to their turn to go in, the doors had barely opened before Ruby dashed off ahead of her and Jaune, yelling happily.

"Ruby wait up!" Yang shouted, sighing as she got no response.

"She'll be fine," Jaune said consolingly, "Probably."

At this, Yang couldn't help but shrug, as she and Jaune headed through the haunted house themselves.

"I know, she's never really been scared of these things, but I'm going to worry either way."

She could make out Jaune smiling in the dark, "Yea, she reminds me a lot of some of my sisters in that way, always running off and making me worried sick."

Yang could have been punched in the gut with how she reeled back in surprise, "Sisters?"

Jaune's head turned her direction, "Yea, you didn't know? I've got seven of them." Her eyes bulged out, and he'd said that Ruby reminded him of them? She could barely keep up with just Ruby! "It's how I met Ruby, actually." He admitted.

"Really?" she asked, leaving him to explain.

"Yea, she had a project with my sister Ginny and came over to work on it, we talked a little bit when they were in the kitchen and ended up talking about comic books, sort of just hit it off."

At this, the wind came fully out of Yang's sails, as she realized how dumb she'd been tonight, glaring at Jaune when he wasn't looking because she thought he was after her baby sister. Here he was just making a new friend, and with how much trouble Ruby usually had talking to people on her own, Yang should have been ecstatic about it, not worrying and being mistrustful.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the first scare went off, and a clown jumped out of the darkness at them with a creepy booming laugh. Yang was so caught off guard she practically leapt back, yelping loudly and ending up bumping into Jaune behind her, who started laughing quietly as she tried to compose herself.

"Not a fan of haunted houses?" he teased in a low voice.

Yang turned red and threw a light elbow back at him, "Shut up, it just caught me off guard cause we were talking."

"Alright, I'll be silent as the grave then, that way you can show off how tough and unafraid you are."

She glowered, looking back at him sharply, "Don't make me murder you, Jaune."

"See, that's the Halloween spirit!"

They continued on, and it seemed that Ruby had forgotten about them completely in her quest to explore the haunted house, because she still hadn't returned.

Yang wondered if she was already done, and if she'd just ran so fast that she probably missed half the scares in the place, but her musings were cut off again, this time by an ominous laughing that sounded like it was coming from every direction.

She started glancing about, hoping she could spot whatever was coming before it happened, but just as she turned to face forwards again a pair of skeletons dropped down from above, the high pitched laughter starting up again as they hung in front of her on their nooses. Yang flinched back and let out a muffled sound, which was quickly drowned out by the laughs of the skeletons as well as Jaune, who was trying to stifle his giggles.

Turning to Glare at him, she relented a little, "Okay fine, I really hate haunted houses, I'm really easy to spook, you happy now?"

Jaune managed to quiet himself, smiling. "Yea, it's nothing to be ashamed of, just wanted to see if you'd admit it." He made a gesture with his hand before continuing. "Want me to go first the rest of the way? I used to have to go through these places with each of my little sisters when they were younger so they wouldn't get scared, so I'm pretty much immune to it all now."

Yang felt herself not, and Jaune stepped past her and started walking slowly, looking back to make sure she followed.

"You sound like quite the brother." She mentioned quietly, trying to make some conversation, maybe so that she could make up for how she'd been treating him all night.

She felt rather than saw him shrug, as she was staying close behind him, looking out from the side. Pride be damned, he'd made the offer to go first and she wasn't stupid enough not to use his wide frame to her advantage.

"Just sort of came natural, I guess, they're my little sisters, it was my job to protect them, still is. My other sisters, the older ones, they did the same stuff for me growing up."

"Must be a hectic household with eight kids."

Jaune laughed a little, "Our parents loved to complain about it, but really they got themselves into this mess." He joked, "they didn't always have time to look out for all eight of us equally, so it pretty much became the norm that we looked out for each other, no matter how much we annoyed each other."

Another scare popped out, a few mangled arms reaching through holes in a wooden door to try and grab them, and Yang moved a little closer behind Jaune's back. If the boy had anything to say about it, he kept it to himself.

"I can't imagine, I can barely keep up with Ruby most of the time, and she's only one sibling."

Jaune shrugged again, "It sort of goes both ways, I had to look out for more than one sister, but they all look out for each other too, so it balances out."

They went on in silence for a few steps, before Jaune spoke up again.

"I think I see the exit, Yang." He said. Yang peeked out from behind his back hopefully.

"Finally. I want to get out of here and kill Ruby for leaving us."

Jaune snorted, "I wasn't that bad, was I?"

Yang looked up at him, "No that's not what I – "

That was the moment that one last scare decided to barge in, literally, as a werewolf swung open a door on the side of the pathway, coincidentally the side Yang was looking past Jaune on, and she let out a scream, jumping back and grabbing out instinctively.

The werewolf receded after a moment, closing the door with it, and Yang relaxed, feeling comforted by the warm hand she'd grabbed on to. Then, of course, her brain caught up and realized the only person with her was Jaune, who was currently looking down at their hands in surprise.

Yang quickly let go, as if she'd burned herself, turning a dark red and stuttering out an explanation.

"I'm sorry! I just, we – I usually go through these with Ruby or Blake and they know I hate this stuff and they're okay with it and – " she went silent again as she felt him grabbing her hand again and holding it in his. She snuck a quick look at his face before looking at the ground again to see if he was about to tease her, but he looked unusually serious, at least for Jaune standards.

"Relax." He told her, quietly. "If holding my hand will help you get through this, then hold my hand, Yang, it's no big deal."

"Okay" she answered quietly, ashamed of how a haunted house could make her go from confident to a nervous wreck no matter how many times she went through it.

Jaune must have noticed her expression, because he bumped shoulders lightly with her, "Hey, don't worry about it, some people just have stuff that gets them for some reason."

She looked over at him as he continued, "Like, I can go through a thousand haunted houses with no problem, but try and get me on anything more extreme than the Ferris wheel at an amusement park and I'll probably faint just from the anxiety."

He then grinned at her mischeviously, "And I bet you know as well as I do that Ruby can run through these things like a candy store, but she hides in the bathroom if there's a spider anywhere else in the house."

Yang smiled slightly, "Got to experience that, huh?"

"Hardest I've laughed in months."

She grinned, imagining how Ruby must have reacted to that, before sighing, her mouth settling into a faint smile. "Thank you, Jaune."

"No problem Yang." He returned, giving her hand a squeeze, before coming to a stop, "We're at the exit, by the way."

Yang looked in front of them to see the exit door, and she let out a whoop of relief, reaching out and shoving the door open with both hands, letting go of Jaune's.

She stepped out into the cold and saw the first group and Ruby waiting for them, and Jaune walked past her, greeting Pyrrha's group before Ruby shot up to him and started shouting excitedly about all the things that were in the haunted house, gesturing wildly with her arms. She saw Jaune grin and add in some of his own enthusiasm about it, before looking up and giving Yang a small smile over Ruby's head.

She returned the smile, turning to wait for Blake to get through with the rest of the gang. She definitely needed to re-evaluate Jaune, as he had definitely proved himself to be a good person for Ruby to befriend.

In fact, Yang felt like maybe she needed to try hanging out with him a little bit as well.

Provided he told nobody about what had happened in that haunted house, since if he did that she'd have to kill him.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: There will probably be a Part Three to this, just letting you know now. Not sure when though, yet.**

"Ugh."

Yang looked up to see who else but Jaune Arc dropping into the chair across from her and slamming his head onto the desk. She stared at him for a moment, wondering if he'd even noticed her at the table, before slowly placing the book she'd been reading down.

"Um, are you alright?"

Jaune's head shot up, eyes wide as he looked at her for a moment before he recognized her. It had only been a few days since Halloween, and everyone was back at school now, just in time for Midterms to come around.

"Yea," Jaune sighed, "Just trying to avoid Pyrrha. She's great, but I swear if she tries to make me study any more for our tests next week I'm going to have a mental breakdown."

Smiling a little, Yang tilted her head at him, before asking, "Well I mean, have you studied?"

He groaned again and slammed his head back down. Yang laughed.

"I'm kidding, and seriously if you keep bashing your head against stuff you'll probably forget everything that you actually did study." She reached over and patted his head in sympathy.

She could see him shrug, and turn his head to the side so his voice wouldn't be muffled, "It's not like it matters, I'll walk into the room on the day of the test and forget everything anyways."

"Well," she replied, flashing him a cheeky grin when he glanced her way, "Maybe you should do some studying then."

"Noooooo" Jaune whined, hiding his head behind his arms, "No more studying, mercy!"

"C'mon, Pyrrha can't be that bad!" she laughed, before pausing and thinking that really, Pyrrha probably could be that bad. She tended to be a little bit overbearing when she was trying to be helpful. Wait, didn't she have a crush on Jaune, too?

Yang's eyes widened, and she resisted the urge to slap herself in front of Jaune as she realized. She'd been so critical of him the whole time on Halloween, and totally forgotten the biggest gossip at their school. Pyrrha Nikos was totally in love with this idiot, and he didn't realize it, and yet she thought he'd be making a move on her little sister?

She groaned, and slammed her own head down on her book, causing Jaune to look up at her in bewilderment.

"What?" he asked, confused at her sudden action.

"Nothing, I just realized how much of a slave driver Pyrrha can be, and that she is totally that bad."

"She's not that bad!" Jaune tried to defend his friend. "Just a little bit too intense? Maybe?"

Yang chuckled, before something caught her eye behind Jaune. "Well, she's looking pretty intense right now. Guess you didn't escape her, huh?"

His eyes widened and he whipped around to look, "Oh no" he moaned. "Why would she check the library? I never come to the library!"

"That's probably why she came to the library." Yang supplied sagely. "Last place you'd think to look for you."

"I hate how much sense that makes." He grumbled, putting his head back on the desk and crossing his arms around it. "If she asks me about studying I'm going to snap, I swear."

Yang chuckled, "Sure Jaune." She said, knowing there was no way he'd actually snap at Pyrrha. He'd be too worried about hurting her feelings, gods knew the girl wasn't great with sarcasm, she probably wouldn't understand he was kidding if he said anything mean.

"Well, here she comes." Yang informed him. His only response was another groan.

She stared at the top of his head for a few seconds before shrugging. Maybe she could do him a favour here to make up for her misjudgement of him on the weekend.

Just as Pyrrha was about to speak, Yang looked up and grinned at her, "Heya P-Money, what can I do for you?" she saw Jaune starting to raise his head from the desk and kicked him in the shin, making him make a pained noise and slam his head back down on the desk. Pyrrha looked down at him with concern, "Jaune, are you okay?"

Yang waved her off, smiling, "He's fine, just a little sick is all." She paused and faked a thoughtful expression, "I mean, he might hurl at any time, but he's fine, trust me."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at her, "That doesn't sound fine, Yang."

"Sooo maybe he needs to go to the nurses office, but really, it's not that bad, he'll throw up a little bit and be right as rain, ain't that right Jaune?" he moaned, which didn't really answer either way. Yang took it though.

"See, A-Okay!"

Pyrrha placed a hand on his back awkwardly, as if she wasn't sure what to do in this situation. "Jaune, do you need to go to the nurse? I can-" Yang dived in again to save him.

"I'll take him" she chirped, smiling cheekily as Pyrrha looked up in surprise, already about to decline. Seeing this, she went for the throat.

"I'm just finishing here anyways, I mean you probably came here to get some books or something, right?" Yang asked, her tone turning towards teasing at the end, as if she was trying to bait a confession out of the redhead.

Pyrrha stared hard at her, but was the first to crumble. Classic Pyrrha, unwilling to get confrontational with anyone. "Yea," she got out, "Just needed to get some books for studying." Another groan sounded from Jaune at the S word, and Yang's mouth almost twitched into a grin. She quickly schooled her features.

"Don't you worry about him, Pyrrha, I used to take care of Ruby all the time when she got sick. Vomit boy is in good hands!" Another bang as Jaune slammed his head against the desk after hearing his new nickname, and Yang's composure almost broke, as she held back a broad smirk. She got out of her chair and walked around the table, grabbing Jaune by the shoulders and hauling him up.

"C'mon buddy, try not to upchuck on my shoes, they're new."

"I hate you" he muttered quietly.

"I can still give you back to her." She retorted, before giving Pyrrha a smile and wave over her shoulder as they left the library. The poor girl waved back, looking lost and confused.

Yang bumped shoulders with Jaune and shot him a wide grin as soon as they were out of Pyrrha's view. "Aren't you lucky to have a friend like me, who saves you from evil redheads?"

He rolled his eyes, "Thanks, I think." He rubbed his forehead and turned to give her a stink eye, "Vomit boy though? Seriously?"

Yang barked out a laugh, "Well I had to think of something to get you out of there! You're lucky I didn't just stop and let her take you to the nurse instead!" His face went white.

"Oh come on," she laughed, "She's not that bad!" Yang mocked, trying to imitate Jaune's voice. It came out squeaky and awkward, and Jaune groaned again.

"I do not sound like that!" he cried, "Why are you so mean?"

Grinning, Yang wound an arm around his shoulders and dragged him in for a side hug.

"You sounded just like Blake does when I talk to her! We're going to be such good friends!"

Jaune did not look relieved by the news, as she had hoped he would. "I think I understand why Blake is so good at hiding now."

She placed a hand over her mouth as she released a dramatic gasp, "Shush you, I am a wonderful friend! Blake is just anti-social." This time it was Jaune who grinned down at her.

"Wow, such great things you have to say about her. You're a real pal, Yang."

She glared, "Yes, I am. I am such a wonderful pal who just saved you from hours of studying, who you should be thanking and praising and kissing the ground I walk on."

Now Jaune laughed, "You sound pretty high and mighty for a girl who needs her hand held in haun- OW!" he reeled back as Yang punched him in the side.

"You tell nobody or you'll end up like all the others who tried to tell."

Jaune blinked, looking at her with a blank face, "What others?"

"Exactly Jaune."

"What?" he said, before his mouthed opened in an 'o'. "Oh, I get it."

"Good" she chirped, "Now, free period is about to end, you can buy me lunch to thank me for saving you." She told him. "Unless you really do need to go to the nurse, you might have a concussion after hitting your head so many times."

"Yea, and probably some bruised ribs and a bloody shin from that psycho who kept attacking me."

Yang grinned savagely at him. "I can't help it if I'm the type of girl who shows affection through physical acts."

Jaune shook his head as they walked into the cafeteria, the bell ringing as they got there.


End file.
